Historic Victory For Mr. Shays

August 05, 1998

Chris Shays has a right to be proud. Not too long ago, the Republican congressman from Stamford and a colleague, Democrat Martin Meehan of Massachusetts, embarked on a long-shot crusade to clean up the campaign finance cesspool. They proposed to ban the unlimited, unregulated soft-money contributions that corporations, unions and wealthy individuals give to the political parties to influence elections.

Congress' Republican leadership has been dead set against cleaning up the campaign finance mess. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his cronies threw obstacle after obstacle before the Shays-Meehan bill.

Yet on Monday night, by a vote of 237-186, the House passed the soft-money ban. The vote was historic because for the first time there is a bipartisan coalition behind reform: Fifty-one Republicans defied their leaders and joined all but 11 House Democrats to support the Shays-Meehan initiative. These lawmakers are in touch with the people, who want Congress to change a system that relies on special-interest money.

There is still a long way to go. The Shays-Meehan bill is one of several measures that claim the reform mantle. Most of the other bills would have little impact. Each alternative proposal also comes up for a final vote this week. The one that gets the most votes wins.

Then the Senate must act. Republican senators are even more deeply committed than many of their House counterparts to feeding at the special-interest trough. That's why they derailed the Senate version of the soft-money ban, called McCain-Feingold, earlier this year. Reform advocates will face another uphill fight in asking the Senate to reconsider.

Here's what must happen if members of Congress are to be weaned from their soft-money addiction:

* The coalition formed by Mr. Shays and Mr. Meehan must stick together and vote against the pseudo reform measures so that the Shays bill has the most votes. Up to now, Connecticut's six House members have kept the soft-money ban on track. That solidarity must remain.

* Connecticut's Democratic senators, Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph I. Lieberman, have consistently backed campaign finance reform. But merely voting for good bills is not enough. If the soft-money ban passes the House, the two senators must become passionate advocates, like Mr. Shays. Mr. Lieberman, especially, has some clout with Republican members.

Meaningful reform has a chance to win. If it does, Mr. Shays, who has courageously stood up to the anti-reform leaders of his own party, will have a place in history.